


Let's Make Our Escape

by 1marchingidiot, ab2fsycho



Series: The Candle Cult [6]
Category: The Candle Cult
Genre: Cute, F/M, becomes more than friendship over time, protective friendship, rp stuff, takes place in dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-25 12:21:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4960432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1marchingidiot/pseuds/1marchingidiot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ab2fsycho/pseuds/ab2fsycho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tea and Tapi live totally different lives in their dreams and end up reaching out to one another. In their dreams, they are the young Rowan and the human Dawn.</p><p>This is a chronicle of their time together, of their relationship as it developed while Tea was asleep and in Dawn's dream realm.</p><p>A collaborative piece consisting of rps done by Tea and Tapi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sun in the Leaves

Dawn pulled uncomfortably at the fluffy silk dress draped over her body. It was stiff and ugly...and made her look like she was ten. "I'm not a kid- I'm a teen!" She huffed to herself as she yanked at the fabric again.

The girl sat under a tree in a forest and while she couldn't remember why or how she got there she honestly couldn't care less. She was outside, away from her family and their rules and there was grass beneath her feet and sun in her raven hair. A sigh of content left her mouth and Dawn leaned back against the tree. Annoying dress be damned, she was just glad to be breathing fresh air and not her father's tobacco.

Rowan rolled under a bush, crawling deeper beneath the branches and leaves as he chased after a rabbit. Of course the rabbit was too fast for him, but he tried at least. "Come back," he asked of it, but again he just wasn't quick enough. Sighing, he went ahead and pushed his way through the thicket, coming out on the other side. He didn't even blink as branches scraped his bare back, surprised none hooked his shorts.

As he emerged, a color not of this wood caught his eye and he looked up to see a girl he'd never encountered before. He stilled, eyes going wide as he stared at her.

She started at the rustling near her and stone colored eyes flashed open to stare back at the boy watching her. Dawn sucked in a breath because what if he was one of the house servants come to drag her back? She'd only just gotten out here! Dawn dug her nails into the soft earth around her before standing up to her full five feet and three inches.

"I refuse to go back. You cannot make me."

Rowan didn't remove himself from the bush. If anything, he slid back under at her petulance. Did she know him? She acted like she did. "Umm," he bit his lip. "Go back . . . where? Exactly?"

Dawn opened her mouth only to pause and close it. She squinted at the other and dropped down to a crouch, hands resting on her knees as she scrutinized the boy. "You are not one of our servants . . . you are not marked as such . . . ." A few of her raven locks fell in front of her face and she quickly brushed them behind her ear. Her hand paused and she dropped her head into it, still thinking. "So if you are not one of ours . . .," Stone eyes quickly lit up and she fell forward onto her hands and knees, grinning with mirth. "Then that means I do not have to worry!"

Rowan had no clue what she was talking about, but her happiness did make him relax more. Still, she'd thought he was a servant? He had never seen her before. Who was she? He almost wanted to double back and run back into the woods in search of his family. Yet he somehow knew that would be rude. Sitting up a little in the bush, he was half aware of leaves getting stuck in his golden hair. "Have we . . . met?" He knew the answer was no as he and his family were not very public people, but figured he would ask.

Her lips twisted in thought before rapidly shaking her head. "No no. We have certainly not met before!" Her eyes caught on the leaves in his hair and it made her stop and really take in his appearance. A blush quickly rose to her flush her cheeks and she turned her head away. "Uh . . . you . . . you have no shirt on . . . ."

His brow furrowed. "Yeah? So?" Did people not undress where she was from?

Dawn's head snapped back to level her own frown at him. "It- It is indecent!" Her voice rose at the end, cheeks somehow flushing redder.

Rowan pushed himself upright, still very much tangled in the bush. "Well . . . we're not around people. No one's here to see." Then he amended, "Except you." This was the hard part of being around people: manners. He had a hard time with those sometimes.

She shoved her face into her hands, eyes wide. Oh god . . . she was seeing a boy without his shirt . . . Dawn's fingers split slightly and she peered through them. "Y-yes. Except me . . .," She reiterated, voice somewhat muffled.

Well now he felt embarrassed. That was . . . bad. That was bad. Scratching his head, he tried to think of something to say. He didn't exactly have a shirt he could just pull out of thin air and wear. "So," he drawled out, fingers tugging nervously at his face and hair like he could wipe his own blush off. Ugh, this was the worst. He hated feeling something just because someone else was feeling it. "Um, my name's Rowan?" Introductions were good manners, right?

She stilled then let her hands fall from her face, skin still flushed like a tomato's. Hesitantly she reached out a hand and turned her head to the side. "D-Dawn."

Oh boy. Handshakes were awkward for him. It was sometimes difficult touching strangers. Feelings sometimes rub off that way. Tentatively he touched her hand, gripping and shaking quickly before pulling back and crawling back under the leaves so only his head was visible to her. Maybe if she didn't see his torso she wouldn't be so flustered. He'd never known anyone to get this offended by his lack of shirt. "You," he fought for a semi normal topic (if he even knew what was normal), "you have servants?"

Dawn stared at him and then at her hand. She blinked in confusion before letting it drop to her side only to swing it back up and cross her arms in front of her chest. "You do not have to be so disgusted in touching someone's hand . . . ." she bit the inside of his cheek then scowled at the mention of the servants. "I do not. My father and mother do."

“Oh," it was his turn to really fluster. "I'm not disgusted, just," I don't like touching people, he should say, "it's hard to explain." Settling in, he propped his head up on his hands. "Are you hiding from them? Do they know you're here at all?"

Her cheeks puffed out in annoyance before letting out a dramatic sigh and dropping to the forest floor as well. Now that the two were eye to eye she realized just how . . . pretty he was. Still a boy, but there was a softness to him she could sometimes see in the nuns that worked at the local church. Dawn picked up a leaf that lay by her feet and twirled it between her fingers. "No one does. I am . . . I am gone. Completely." A wave of sadness passed over her and she choked back a sob. What the- why was she? Dawn shook her head and ignored the weird ache in her chest. "You are not from around here are you?"

Rowan shook his head as he felt her sadness. "No." He wondered what had upset her. Had he missed something? He didn't doubt it. He missed a lot of things for all he tended to pick up on. Eyes locking on her dark hair, it reminded him of feathers. He blinked away the thought several times before asking, "Is something wrong?"

Dawn let the leaf fall back to the floor, watching its descent with all her focus. "I don't think so."

Rowan tilted his head to the side before asking, "So what are you out in the woods for?" She certainly didn't look like she belonged in the woods.

Dawn looked up at Rowan and wrapped her arms around herself. "It's suffocating being trapped in there. I don't like it." She paused, then added as an afterthought, "My home, I mean my home."

“I get that." He gave her a toothy grin. "I'm not exactly a people person." He had only ever been used to his parents.

Rowan's grin eased something inside her and Dawn gave one back. "People suck." She said, sticking out her tongue. She tilted her head up to the sky and closed her eyes, enjoyed the sun on her skin. "You do not however. I think, I think I would like to be your friend, Rowan."

Rowan wasn't quite sure what it meant to be a friend, but judging by the way it made him feel to hear the word he liked it. "That would be nice," he uttered. Then he relaxed, chin resting on his arms as he contemplated her earlier statement. "Not all people suck."

A small laugh bubbled out of her throat and she spread her arms out before falling backwards onto the ground, grass brushing against her skin and clothes. "A lot of them do though!" She giggled and plucked some of the grass up only to let it rain down over her stomach. "You can stop hiding in the bush now. I think I will be fine if you are shirtless . . . since we are friends now."

Rowan slowly crawled out, trusting her evident excitement more than anything. Settling onto the grass beside her, he grinned and asked, "Did you have to hang out with a lot of people to figure that out? And it didn't bother you?"

Her head rolled to look at him and she smiled widely, eyes practically closing as her cheeks squished up into them. "Yes. I have met so many people- I could have an army!" Her smile dropped to a more relaxed face and she reached out to poke Rowan's face. "You know . . . for a boy you are very pretty . . . Oh!" She poked him again as her eyes widen. "You are- you remind me of the creatures in my stories."

He was surprised he didn't flinch when he poked her. He did wrinkle his nose a little before asking nervously, "What kind of creatures?" He squinted. "Why would you want an army?"

"Oh I do not actually want an army. It is . . . a comparison! I have just met a looooooot of people." She dropped her hand and stared at their skin tones, her own a pinker shade of his yellow. "Let me think . . . ah . . . there were unicorns! Unicorns that had healing magic and could talk." She rolled onto her stomach, the movement closing some of the space between them. Dawn plucked another piece of grass and went to working bend in it a variety of directions. "And dragons. I liked them, they could fly! There were also some scarier ones but," she paused then shrugged, focusing more on the grass piece, "I was not actually scared."

He grinned. He liked dragons and unicorns too. But what was scary? He froze. "Not giant spiders, I hope." He hated spiders. He hated them. They just didn't . . . look right.

A shudder ran through her and the grass fell back to the ground. "Eugh. No. I mean . . . yes, there were spiders- but I really do not like them. No I would have to say . . . the scariest things," she turned to him and moved her face closer, eyes narrowing and face growing dark, "were the humans."

He could see that. Humans were truly scary. She was a bit intimidating herself, but he liked her. He chuckled, then added, "That's why I stick to animals. They're less intense." He sat up quickly and ran to a tree nearby. "Watch this!" he called back as he started shimmying up the trunk with ease.

Dawn rocked backwards at his sudden movement from the ground to the tree and sat up to watch his quick ascent up the bark. She giggled as he missed a branch in his eagerness and ended up hanging there for a moment. Rowan quickly regained his footing however and in moments was up among the leaves, looking more and more like a wild creature than a boy. Dawn dropped her face into her hands and watched him as he moved, the other's personality and presence making her both happy and calm at the same time. It . . . was a pleasant feeling she hadn't felt in a while.

Rowan settled among the branches, beaming as he found what he'd been after. "It's okay," he coaxed the squirrel out of its cubby. Putting as much energy as he dared into the exchange, he waited until the squirrel came out on its own and sniffed his hand. His smile widened as she trusted his presence and proceeded to crawl up his arm to his neck. With the squirrel perched on his shoulder tentatively, he started his descent to the ground again. He moved quickly, maintaining the energy needed to keep the squirrel comfortable with him while also struggling to keep from falling.

Dawn sat as still as she could as Rowan reached the ground, squirrel perched on his shoulder and twitching its nose worriedly. "How did y-" she clapped her hands over her mouth and tried again to be still, this time silent too. But she really wanted to know how he managed to get a squirrel to sit on his shoulder like a pirate's bird.

The squirrel stayed put, shaking slightly at Dawn's excitement. He cooed to it, then turned a little to present the squirrel to the girl. "She just needed to know she was safe with me." His grin grew sheepish as he pet her head with his index and middle fingers. "That's usually all they need to know to come near you."

“That is . . . amazing," Dawn whispered, eyes wide with envy and joy. She bit the inside of her cheek before tentatively asking "C-could . . . I try to pet her too?"

"Sure." He stepped closer, sending small amounts of soothing energy to the squirrel so she knew it was okay. "Just be calm and she'll be fine," he added with a toothy grin.

As slowly as she could Dawn stood up and hesitantly reached out a hand towards the wild duo. A tiny gasp left her mouth as she stroked the squirrel’s head, face twisting into an excited smile. "She's so soft."

"Yeah, she is." The squirrel allowed herself to be pet, even arching up into Dawn's hand. He waited for Dawn to finish petting her before he pulled back on the energy output. Sighing, the squirrel stayed for a moment longer before regaining her previous state of mind and scurrying down his back to the ground.

She watched after the animal then turned back to Rowan, confusion evident on her face. "Why did you let it go? You could have kept her as a pet!"

He smirked and shrugged as he repeated his mother's mantra. "Wild things should stay wild."

Dawn raised her eyebrows at that and stared back after the squirrel. "But what if she gets hurt without you there to protect her? Could . . . would that squirrel not be better with you where you can protect her from monsters and keep her fed?" She cupped her cheek in her hand, lost in thought over the, at least to her, apparent dilemma.

Rowan shrugged again. "Better to live free than dependent entirely on someone else. She was born out here. She should stay out here. She'll learn to protect herself." Some didn't, but that was life. It was harsh, but not always cruel. "What will happen will happen."

She redirected her gaze to Rowan and squinted. Dawn repositioned herself to stand in front of the other, only just looking down on him. Without warning her hands were clapped over his cheeks and the two were only centimeters apart. The girl inspected him closely, grey eyes flitting over his face as if reading a book. "You do not act like any boy or other kid I have ever known."

A mild panic overtook him as she grabbed his face and looked him over. Her emotions bled from her hands into him and thank God they were positive or else he might collapse. "Is . . . is that good?" He wasn't sure how to take that.

"It is different. That much I can say." She brushed her thumbs across the tops of his cheeks, nails just running under his eyes. "You know," she began, breath just ghosting over his face "There were other creatures in my books."

He pulled out of her hands suddenly, flinching at how near her fingers were to his eyes. She assumed he was a creature. Well . . . he was, but he couldn't tell her. That was just a general rule. Rubbing at the parts of him he touched, he uttered, "Sorry," over having pulled away. "Um . . . what exactly," he shouldn't ask, but he couldn't stop himself, "do you think I am?"

Her hands stayed in the air a moment after he pulled away before dropping to clench at the stiff fabric of her skirt. "Hmm . . . I . . . Not one of the bad ones?"

What did she consider bad? He tilted his head, watching her carefully before deflecting the subject entirely. "So what is your family like?" He stared at her attire, feeling pity for her over the restricting clothing. "Are they trying to torture you?"

Dawn puffed out her cheeks, annoyed at him avoiding the subject and changing it to a much more annoying one. "They are all butts. Butts with money who think fun means sitting inside and drinking tea!" She huffed and yanked at her skirt more, wishing she could tear the annoying garment off. "They are not trying- they are succeeding!"

He back stepped at her irritation, then jested, "You could always run around shirtless. That'll make them angry." Then he perked up. "I like tea! But it doesn’t make me sit still." Quite the opposite actually.

Her eyes widened at his suggestion and she quickly wrapped her arms around her chest. "W-what?!" She shrieked, face flushing red again. "I-I could not do such a thing!"

He snorted. "I do it all the time." His family too, when they were certain the woods were safe. He cared less about safety and more about the way he felt when running through the wood.

Dawn twisted her hands in her skirt and stared down at her bare feet. She was already running around without shoes or stockings on- but taking off her dress? She'd be left in her underclothes! But . . . she peered up at Rowan from under her eyelashes and pouted. He wasn't really a boy, or a human . . . at least she didn't think so . . . did that make running around barely clothed okay?

"If you don't want to, that's cool too." People were so funny about clothes. "How long did it take you to get used to bare feet?" He knew many couldn't step on a twig without flinching. Meanwhile he ran on rocks.

She lifted a foot to show the bottom which was in fact fairly calloused, a grin stretched her face as she put it back down. "I have a high pain tolerance- so not long at all."

He smiled. "Is there anything you do like about your family? Or is it all awful?"

Her grin dropped and she huffed, looking anywhere but at him. "Everyone has something you can like about them- that does not make them likeable."

"I get that," he said. Settling down on the grass, he pointed at the sky and said, "And people who are likeable aren't always full of likeable traits. I, for one, am never on time for anything!"

Dawn pouted slightly before dropping to the grass as well, squinting up at the sky that was just barely visible between the leaves. "I have been told I am rather selfish."

"Everyone can be selfish. It's not always bad. Sometimes you need to be." He bumped shoulders with her slightly. "How else would we get away with running through the woods?"

She sighed and dropped her head to his shoulder as she stared at the trees before them. "I do not normally get away with it . . . hence why I lost my temper on you earlier."

He felt bad for her, so he didn't mind her leaning on him as much. "I shouldn't run away so much. I actually get along with my parents." He often looked forward to telling them all about what he'd seen. "We don't really interact with people. We tend to only have each other."

Her gaze shifted down to their hands which sat next to one another and she slowly wrapped her pinky around his. "My . . . my mother does this for me. She normally does not like being around me but we are both fairly scared of lightning so whenever there is a storm she will make me a promise that we will be fine then wrap our pinky's together . . . that is her likeable trait."

He returned the gesture, feeling her remembering the times it had happened. "My mom sings to me before she goes out for the night. That always reassures me she'll come back the next morning."

Dawn nodded against his shoulder and just sat there in a comfortable silence with him, enjoying Rowan and the sun's warmth together. Her eyes closed and she took in a slow breath that was full of the scent of the forest and the other's own sweet smell. She tightened her finger around his before exhaling and opening her eyes again. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes but she didn't move to wipe them away.

"I don't want to go back . . .," was her quiet whisper.

"I wish you didn't have to." Not with the way it made her feel. He didn't usually encourage people to run away, but he also didn't talk to people much. He figured he'd make an exception. "Don't you have somewhere else to go?"

"Ha . . . I do . . . ." Finally she reached up with her free hand to wipe away her now falling tears. "I have another home actually. It's full of a bunch'a idiots-- but they're mine."

"Really?" he asked excitedly.

Dawn nodded her head then fully entwined her hand with his. "Yeah. It's great. I think you'd really like it there . . . you'd just need to open your heart to them is all, Tea."

Something in his mind triggered at the name and he felt semi ill. Tea . . . he was Tea . . . .

His brow creased as he squinted at her. He knew her. But he could only think to ask, "Tea?" It was like there was a wall in his mind, blocking his association with the name.

She moved her head off his shoulder and twisted to fully hug the other, body pressing against his gently. "Yeah. Tea. I'm sorry you have to wake up like this . . . though I doubt you'll remember much . . . I know she won't." Dawn hiccupped and tightened her hold on the other. "I'm really glad I got to meet you though. Who'd've thought our silly giant was such a cute kid."

Rowan . . . Tea held onto her, grip weak at first. Then it strengthened to a fierce hold. He squeezed his eyes shut as he returned the hold full force, gritting his teeth as he uttered against her shoulder, "T-Tapi?"

"Aha . . . sorta. I'm just me, just Dawn." She reached up a hand to slowly thread through his golden hair, sighing rather sadly. "This happens sometimes- if she, we I guess, are having a, a nightmare, sometimes we end up reaching out to the closest soul we have and drag them here to calm down."

Tea shuddered. He wouldn't remember this. He knew he wouldn't. But . . . he was glad. "You have nightmares often?"

Dawn nodded against his shoulder and let go of him only to once more cup his face. Her grey eyes, now tinged the familiar blue of Tapi's, looked at him with a mixture of sadness and fondness. "It happens in cycles, it's a result of . . . well . . . you don't need to worry about that for now I don't think." She pulled his head towards her and placed a small kiss to his forehead. "Thanks for sitting with us, Sweet Tea." She smiled as she said the nickname Ash had given him then let his face go before standing up and brushing the dirt off her now stained dress. "It helped a lot."

Tea watched her get up and walk away before quietly saying, "Anytime." He watched her disappear. A pain rose in his chest as he glanced down at where she once sat. He touched the spot that hurt most, then rubbed the left side of his neck in a way Rowan never would have.

\--

Tapi turned over in her bed, body curled tightly around a pillow. She let out a soft whimper and her face contorted in a pain before her eyes blearily opened and stared through the dark and out the wall of windows across from her. She let go of the pillow and wiped at her eyes, the fresh tears there not surprising. She knew she'd been having a nightmare . . . but her chest didn't ache like it normally did after waking up from one. In fact . . . she felt oddly peaceful . . . and a bit hungry. Tapi laid in her bed a minute longer, trying to sort out exactly what she was hungry for because this wasn't the same hunger she normally dealt with. No, this was . . . she scrunched her eyebrows in thought. She wanted tea . . . weird.

The cult leader pulled herself out of her bed and put on her cloak before leaving her room and heading for the kitchen. She knew Tea kept a stash of it down there and right now she really, really needed some.

\--

Tea woke to the sound of cruel laughter from the next room over. He must have dreamt something interesting for the demon to be enjoying his waking so much. He kept his mouth shut, refraining from asking as he probably didn't want to know.

Still, he felt . . . not like he usually did upon waking. His heart wasn't racing. There weren't fresh puncture wounds in his gums from gritting his fangs too hard. His talons weren't broken and his fingers didn't ache from gripping the sheets too hard. He felt . . . strangely alright.

And also like he had missed something crucial upon waking. That was the only thing leaving him hollow.


	2. Stars in the Sky

His heart hammered, tears streaming down his cheeks. He couldn't stay quiet. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't stay quiet. His legs hurt, body hitting against bark and branches as he shot through the dark woods. His eyes were wide and panicked cries left his mouth involuntarily as he careened desperately through the woods. He didn't mean to cry out when he heard the creature behind him roaring. He didn't mean to trip and fall over a branch and hit his head on a root. He saw stars, tears flowing and head aching as he scrambled back to his feet. Oh God he could hear it. The beast was getting closer, the woods growing darker with its inevitable approach.

He stumbled, but kept going, couldn't stop moving. He felt the sting of a cut on his temple but didn't swipe at it. He just kept running despite his burning lungs and sore feet, hoping his vision would clear up enough for him to pick up speed again. He wasn't so fortunate, however, foot snagging in a tangle of ivy that brought him down and didn't let him back up. Tangled like a rabbit in a garden net, he kicked and screamed through his aching throat before going completely still at the encroaching darkness surrounding the nine foot tall beast.

Rowan curled up with the intention to look away but his eyes locked with three golden ones and he couldn't tear them away. He couldn't stop staring at the broken jaw, which bore a razor grin that sat askew due to the loose bone that left the mouth dangling open. One arm out of four hung lower than the others, connected only by strings of a black, thick substance. The monster's torso was cut from breast to groin and black innards hung from the gaping wound. It left a blackened trail of ooze in its wake and its shrieks were more familiar to Rowan than he understood. Darkness swallowed many of the beast's features, black limbs not connected to its body seeming to reach for the boy as the monster exuded agony and terror. Rowan's senses were so flooded that he couldn't hear himself screaming. He couldn't hear himself begging, "Leave me alone! Please, leave me alone!"

His lips moved, but all he heard was the shrill sounds of the beast. He sobbed on the ground, tangled and unable to escape, and had the strange inkling he'd done this before but . . . a voice told him not to cry for help. An almost familiar voice told him no one would save him.

That only served to make him sob more.

A loud thawk echoed in the woods as a thick tree branch collided with the monsters side. It hit again before the creature turned its horrifying gaze on the attacker, a small thing that was oozing fury.

"Leave him alone!" A young voice cried out as the branch struck again, only this time it got caught in the thick black substance leaking down the monster's side. A faint trickle of fear escaped from the attacker and the monster narrowed its golden gaze.

Cool grey eyes flickered from the nightmare to the boy lying on the ground and pale lips mouthed ‘run’ at him as Dawn stepped back slightly, mind already racing as she tried to feel around the dark forest floor with her feet for another make-shift weapon.

Rowan lay still, frozen at the sound of another person approaching. His first instinct was to curl up tighter, to anticipate the beast now had an ally bent on hurting him too. Then she'd screamed for the beast to leave him be and he . . . he recognized the voice. Blinking past the tears and aching headache that blinded him, he called out, "Dawn?!" Oh God please let it be her, he inwardly begged. Let it be Dawn. Don't let him be alone for much longer and don't let her get hurt.

He started writhing in the ivy, bucking harder to pull free. He glanced about the forest floor looking for something to use or throw to Dawn. The crushing despair of the beast almost rendered him motionless again, but he fought. He struggled against the tangle and his sobs, making little progress but he was trying all the same.

It was as her foot came in contact with another branch that the creature let out a shrill scream, the sound causing Dawn to hesitate just long enough for an arm of smoke and shadow and flesh to fly out and knock her onto the cold forest floor. Dawn hit it with a hard thud, breath leaving her at the unexpected impact. The monster let out another bone-chilling sound as it turned back to Rowan, the female nuisance seemingly deemed less important.

Dawn felt tears prick the corners of her eyes at the pain that blossomed in her chest from the hit, but she breathed past it and slowly, slowly, reached for the branch she knew lay near her. If she could maybe just get one of its eyes out . . . maybe that would stun it long enough for her to grab her friend and run.

He stopped kicking and resorted to clawing at the dirt and leaves around him for something, anything to use. The creature neared him and he was frantic with fear, screaming and crying as he dragged his fingers over the earth, bending back nails in the process. He cried out at the pain, but didn't stop, wouldn't stop. When he finally gripped a chunk of wood he threw it at the monster's face only for it to graze its jaw uselessly.

The beast actually laughed, the sound low and ragged and mocking as it loomed over him now. A clawed hand reached for him, and the loudest scream he had ever let loose ripped from his possibly bleeding throat. He squeezed his eyes shut in hopes that looking away would make the beast grabbing him hurt less.

As soon as her fingers found the branch Dawn was back in action, swinging all of her weight into her attack as she jammed the new branch into the creatures side before yanking it back out and slamming the now tar covered stick into its face. "I said leave HIM ALONE!!" She screamed, body only just flinching as her actions made the attack from earlier hurt more.

The creature faltered and leaned over Rowan. Rowan jolted in place and unintentionally got a clear view of the beast's whole head. His entire being went cold as ice and he stiffened, eyes drinking in more features he recognized. He had only ever seen such features when he looked in a mirror. But how . . . no. No no NO!

"Go away!" Rowan burst out, hand launching upward and out and punching the monster in the slack jaw. He felt sick at the way it jostled back and forth and even sicker when tar started spilling from its teeth and onto his bare torso. He whimpered and pulled, kicked, twitched in an attempt to get away only for his limbs to deceive him. He was tired. So tired and heavy. Still, horror gripped him and he just. Wanted. To get away.

Dawn grit her teeth at Rowans cry of distress and with her own shout rammed the stick in one of the creature's eyes. Before she could even fully let go the girl was spinning around to grab the boy and start yanking him off the forest floor and into motion. "Run you numbskull!" she yelled, hand tightly clasped in his as Dawn began running in any direction that was away from that thing. "Do not think about it Rowan! Stop thinking and run!"

His legs were sore and his lungs burned. He tasted blood and he couldn't see. No matter how many times he blinked, he couldn't see as she pulled him free of the tangle and onto his feet. As she yanked him into a run, he stumbled on some of the vines still wrapped around his legs. They didn't stop running though. They didn't stop running no matter how heavy he was and how utterly overwhelmed with fear he was.

The creature shrieked behind them and Rowan couldn't ignore him. He couldn't . . . unhear, unsee for lack of better words. He couldn't get the appearance out of his head and he couldn't scream. All that came out were broken whimpers in response to the shouts of the beast behind him. The beast that was falling apart and somehow . . . somehow.

"I can't!" Blood coated his lips as he cried out, arm aching from Dawn pulling him. His feet hit the ground in rapid succession, the shock of the feeling shooting up his legs and making it all the way to his ears. He didn't want to stop, he didn't want to have seen, he didn't . . . he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he did. What had he done to deserve being chased like this? "What did I do wrong?!" The words came out garbled and the taste of blood was starting to make him sick.

His cries hurt more than the bruise forming on her chest or the ache in her lungs. Hearing him so . . . pathetic, it was like listening to a wild animal calling out even though it knew it was doomed. Dawn choked back her own fear and spun on her heel, dragging Rowan down to the ground and wrapping her body around his tightly. Her face pressed into his golden hair and she squeezed her arms reassuringly around his back. If he wasn't able to run then she'd protect him. Protect the wild boy with eyes like a monster’s and a heart that was too sweet. "Shh it is okay do not worry I have you Rowan everything will be ok." She whispered to him as the monster drew nearer. Dawn inhaled sharply as she caught a flash of too familiar glowing eyes and her arms tightened around the other slightly. "It is just a bad dream. You will wake up soon I promise."

He could have screamed at the way she wrapped herself around him. Shaking his head over and over, he wanted to tell her she was wrong. No, this would never end. It would never end, and that beast would never stop coming for him. He knew this intrinsically. He couldn't. He couldn't. He just . . . couldn't.

He couldn't be saved. It didn't matter how much her protectiveness poured into him through where they touched, he knew he couldn't be saved. That's what the voice in the back of his head said. No one's going to save you, it whispered. He was going to wake up just as alone and broken as ever.

The dawning realization left sobs wracking him as he clung to her for dear life. The beast was approaching and neither of them could stop it. He wished she could help him. He wished more than ever she could help him, that she wasn't just here to further his own sadness. "Please," he mouthed against her, voice barely audible and blood on his tongue, "please just . . . tell me what I did wrong." Tell him what he was being punished for. He must have done something wrong if he was being punished in this manner.

"You did nothing wrong love nothing at all it is okay Rowan you are safe it is all over nothing is going to hurt you I promise." She cooed over and over as her body trembled slightly. His fear flooded into her in tidal waves and she wanted to break down and cry too but she couldn't, not now, not ever. A tiny fury flickered in her chest and she glared down the monster that approached them. For so long she'd had to fight her own demon and now this one dare invaded her one place of peace and comfort and it was hurting her friend-

The smoke that held the creature together began rippling and pulling away, shooting towards the huddled children on the ground before disappearing into thin air. Dawn dug her nails slightly in the flesh of Rowan's body as the smallest of flames ignited above her head and her eyes flashed a certain blue. "Get out," she commanded in a voice far too time worn to be a child's.

The beast stared back at her with only two functioning eyes, pain and devastation oozing from his very being in the forms of smoke, shadow, and tar. He roared, black substance bubbling up in his throat and pouring past his elongated rows of fangs. It made the roar sound garbled as his dangling limb slowly started separating itself from his body further. Tar went from dripping to gushing out of his middle, broken bones cracking further and becoming more pronounced. Eventually he was on his knees and crawling towards the girl pinning the boy to the ground beneath her protectively. Waves of agony and fear came off him as he continued disintegrating before the children.

Meanwhile, Rowan sobbed into Dawn's shoulder as he absorbed all the feelings to the point that all he could do was tremble and cringe at the flavor of his blood.

Whether she was speaking to the creature or to Rowan, one couldn't tell. But Dawn stared ahead with pity in her gaze and possessiveness in her hold. "Leave. Stop dragging this out. It is only going to hurt you more if you do." Her eyes flashed blue again and the remaining smoke in the creature moved up almost stroking against its face before it completely disappeared. Dawn frowned slightly before dipping her head down to kiss the top of Rowan's, one of her arms unwrapping from around him so she could gently wipe at his tears. "Shh. It is okay. Shhh," she whispered, voice a gentle lull against the horrific sounds of the decomposing monster.

The beast faded into a pile of black and darkness, but Rowan didn't see. He was too busy shivering against the older girl and sobbing. He still felt the remnants of the beast's presence, not really believing it was gone. He clung to her harder, wanting to believe her. He wanted to, but he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was waiting for her to be ripped from him and the real punishment to begin. He still didn't know what he'd done wrong. He still didn't know, didn't believe her when she said he wasn't at fault.

Rowan was always at fault. Rowan . . . Tea was always at fault.

He felt so small under her, and he shook even harder at his being rendered virtually powerless. Pressing his face harder into her shoulder, fingers digging into her sides desperately, he whimpered, "I did someth-thing to . . . I did," something to deserve this. He just couldn't remember what and it was a glaring hole in his mind, a noticeable ache in the pit of his stomach.

Dawn moved her other hand to cup his face and she tilted it up towards her own, grey eyes just visible in the dark light of the night. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his fingers gently stroking his tear covered cheeks. Gently she nodded and their noses bumped together before Dawn pulled back, hands still cradling the crying boys face. ". . . you did not stick to your side. We-she . . . I . . . you did not stick to it. And this is the consequence. It hurts not and I am so sorry for it but I promise you it will eventually prove to be the right decision." Her words were hesitant, a whisper into the now almost overbearing silence that was only broken by his sobs.

Sides. He'd had to choose sides. He . . . he'd chosen her side. Their side. Oh no. Oh God. What had happened to him? What had happened to them? How many people had been hurt because of him?

He tried to open his eyes, but still couldn't see through his tears. Compulsion seized his sore throat and tongue and he began uttering brokenly, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," over and over again. He kept expecting to get cut off by a rough grip or a harsh voice. He wanted to shake his head again, but his head was trapped in her hands and he couldn't stop shaking. He wanted to see her face, but his tears were blurring his vision.

Dawn hushed him softly, fingers brushing away every new tear that rose up to cover his golden eyes. The light from the stars and moon bleached their surroundings as they were uncovered by a break in the clouds above and she sighed in relief at better being able to see him. The girl fully dropped to the forest floor, skirt of her dress puffing up around her slightly. She reached out and slowly pulled Rowan's head down into her lap, stroking her fingers through his hair as her other hand found his and she wrapped their pinkies together tightly.

"It is gone now. The nightmare is over for now you can breathe," she said softly. Her pinky squeezed around his and she stilled her hand in his hair. "Did you know . . . that one time when I ran away from my house I ended up falling into one of our ponds? Rowan I was in so much trouble for ruining the dress I wore that my parents made me walk around in just my undergarments for a day . . . if I had known you then I would have laughed but it was so horrible I thought the world was ending. But it did not- and it is not now."

Rowan was stiff at first, lying with his head in her lap and sniffling. Everything hurt. He was still shivering, and everything hurt. He turned his head into her lap, hiding his face as he listened. When she finished talking about her memory, he drew his legs in tight to his chest and muttered, "They really did that to you?" Thinking about it, clothes seemed like a better idea right now. Less exposure, less skin visible to any would-be assailant. He could hide in clothes.

His breath stuttered at his own lack of cover and he whimpered, curling in tighter.

She nodded, though he couldn't see the motion, and began running her hand through his hair again. "They did. That is why I freaked out when you and I met." Dawn untangled their pinkies and began shifting around until her legs were splayed on either side of Rowan's body. She reached behind herself and undid the tie that held her sash up. Carefully she rewrapped it around Rowan like a scarf before hesitating and shucking off the top layer of her dress. The purplish-grey fabric looked like a dirty white in the moonlight but it didn't matter. What did was that it was adding to the pile of fabric covering the cowering boy.

As soon as she had piled it on top of him Dawn bent down and pressed another kiss to Tea's head, her hands resuming their earlier positions in his hair and own hand.

Covered by the clothes still warm from having been on her, he still shuddered but not as profusely. Blinking several times, he held onto her. He breathed raggedly, pain growing bearable the longer he remained still. When silence fell and the clothing covering him actually calmed him, he dared turn his head upward to look at her. His chest clenched and his throat almost closed before he murmured low enough not to agitate his sore vocal chords, "Can . . . can I ask-k you something?"

"Anything," she replied, fingers gently threading through his hair.

He turned his head away, hesitating. Then his tongue betrayed him. "What happens when I . . . when I wake up?"

Dawn's hands stilled and she smiled sadly down at him. "You will not be waking up for quite some time."

Somehow he'd known that. Squeezing his eyes shut, he asked, "That . . . that bad?"

She sighed and moved the hand in his hair to his face, running her fingers across his skin softly. "Are you saying I am that bad of company?" A mirthless chuckle left her and her hand rested on his cheek gently. "That monster is what you are right now Sweet Tea. It has to be until you can be put back together."

His shoulders shook as he resisted the urge to start crying again. "I'm sorry. That's-s not what I meant-t." He thought back on the beast, terror gripping him utterly as he crawled closer to her. Arms reaching out and wrapping around her waist, he held fast and murmured. "I'm . . . I'm afraid."

The girl bent forward, body curling protectively over his and she murmured quiet words of affection. She rubbed small circles on his back over the fabric that covered it and worked to keep herself from being swallowed in the guilt and fear he emitted. "It is alright, I will take care of you . . . ." She sucked in a breath, her own guilt trickling through her slightly before she shook her head and put it away. "You will be okay, I promise."

He didn't think so, but he wanted to believe her. Needed to believe her. Right now, she was all he had. The question burned though, "Who did this to me?"

She sighed and pulled back slightly, careful not to jostle his grip on her waist as her hands laid themselves flat on his back. "It was your master. You fought him and got very badly hurt. Chronic and I- . . . Tapi, they all managed to finish him and get you back home. Right now their magic is what's holding you together. We cut off your flame for the time being so you could heal without pain . . . ." She sighed again, this time one fuller of pain and her hands curled into tight fists. "It is going to be a while until you are whole again . . . but it is your punishment. These are the scars that will remind you of all of this for eternity."

Dawn took in a shuddering breath and a few tears dropped from her eyes and into Rowan's hair. She spoke her words like they were something a parent taught a child to say. No I don't want to go with you. Yes, please and thank you. She wouldn't tell him that they were only Tapi's words and thoughts, Dawn knew Rowan had already learned that.

Rowan . . . Tea blinked his eyes open. Everything was so sore, but still he asked, "Is he really gone?"

She nodded and smoothed out her hands on his back again. "Yes. I cannot say you are free because you are still with us- but your master is gone."

He couldn't fathom it yet. The very notion that he was no longer living under Liam's painted thumb was a concept that would take years to grasp. He wanted to celebrate, wanted to laugh and smile. But all he could do was relax against her and try to quell the shuddering. "That's . . . free. Enough." He . . . he didn't know how to be free. He wasn't sure he would learn to sleep the whole night without the fear of being awoken by his master or supervisor. His eyes shot wide, the name of said supervisor spilling from his lips. "Lance." Fear crawled back where serenity had tried to take root, settling in like a disease once more.

Dawn quickly shushed him, hands running over his back and face soothingly to try and fight the fear welling up in him. "Shh yes he is gone too. I believe all of them are . . . save for the one you saved."

He tried to remember. He couldn't remember at first. Then he scoffed. "I hate him."

"Then why did you save him?"

He blinked, the anger over his own actions actually drowning out the fear from before. After a long pause, he uttered, "Life is a harsher punishment sometimes." He'd learned that recently, from someone he continued to be wary of but also looked up to.

She sighed, shifted herself and Tea again, this time pulling the other up so he sat with his back to her chest. Dawn wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face to his back, the warmth from her body seeping into him slowly. "It is a hard lesson to learn," was her only comment, the words tinged with sadness.

He nodded after allowing himself to be shifted. Resting his back against her, he felt much more secure and stable in this hold. He wanted to tell her more, but considered staying quiet for the time being. The majority of the shivering stopped and he glanced up at the sky. Watching the stars, he almost expected them to start blinking out one by one under the scrutiny of his gaze. Sighing, he murmured in a voice that sounded much older than his body was currently, "I don't know what I'm going to do when I wake up." But he supposed he should be more concerned with what he was going to do now. "I . . . don't know how . . .," he couldn't finish. He clamped his mouth shut.

Dawn shook her head against his back and glared hard at the ground below. "You have a while before you wake up. Do not think about that for now. It will only make it harder to do so."

He nodded. She was right. He had a while. "I'll . . . I'll forget everything." Like he usually did upon waking. Tapi would probably beat some sense into him somehow. "I should just shut up." He didn't know how to deal with silence, but his fixation on what was to come wasn't helping either.

Again her head shook against his back. Dawn's hands curled in the ends of her sash that she left wrapped around his neck. "Do not shut up . . . please . . . I like your voice."

Rowan grew quiet for a moment before whispering, "I don't . . . I don't know what to talk about." His brow furrowed as he tried to put his hands on the ground, palms flat and lips quivering. He didn't want to think about what had happened, what he couldn't exactly remember. But he was stuck. What else could he do?

Dawn hummed slightly before she uncurled her hands and spread them across the flat of his chest. "What is it like- feeling emotions just by touching someone? Can you do it when you are not in contact too?"

Her hands over his chest made his heart beat faster for some reason, and he grew self-conscious how hard the organ beat against his breastbone. His breath stuttered as he answered, "Like a stream. The feelings wash over me like water. Sometimes it penetrates and I feel it inside. It's easier to ignore the invasion from a distance, but . . . it's always difficult. I never stop feeling." He hesitated, then continued. "It's impossible to ignore when touching."

She smiled slightly and squeezed her arms around him tightly, sending as much gratitude and affection into the other that she could. "You say that like it is a bad thing- but I think it only makes you more human."

"I wish I didn't feel so intensely." He had the invasive thought that he was glad he didn't feel anything from his previous masters. The malice he gleaned simply from experience had been more than enough. He hadn't needed the addition of touch. He sank further into her hold, pulling on the comfort she offered. "It's . . . it's not always b-bad. But . . . it can be."

"I understand that . . . but you do realize it was your running away from feeling things that brought you here right?" The girl gave a small sigh of exasperation before somehow managing to nestle even closer against him. She laid the side of her face against his back and glanced up through her eyelashes at the sky. "I cannot really talk though. This whole place was made so that I would not have to feel the same things she does. It is safe . . . but isolated. Sometimes I think it would be better if we stopped clinging to my existence."

"I don't have a better way to deal with things." He had never had a better way. He'd been stuck with voids his whole life, people who were sans feelings and auras. He liked it here. He was calm here. Here he could easily forget who he was in the waking world. He wished he could forget now, but he'd already been chased by one beast. It was still within the realm of possibility that he'd be chased by another. Dawn's last statement confused him. "What do you mean?"

Dawn unraveled her arms from around him and brought her hands up to lightly trace patterns as she spoke, the action helping her pick her words carefully. "I am me. I have always been and it seems I always will be. The one you call your leader is a result of my soul having merged with . . . with the creature that started this whole mess. Tapi is . . . she is in a sense a new soul filled with the memories and pain of old ones. Even though she has had all this time to learn how to handle emotions and the like she still cannot properly. More often than not it is myself of the other who is guiding her and her actions . . . ." Her finger stilled in the process of making a circle and she dropped her hands to her lap, head gently bumping against the other's back. "If I left this place- left this tiny corner of her soul that has been sealed off- then I would surely be found . . . and sometimes I think it would simply be better if I did so. Maybe she isn't meant to be able to feel the way I do . . . I have been alive longer than her but I am no closer to being an adult than when it all happened." A tiny hiccup left her and Dawn retracted her body from Rowan's, not wanting him to have to feel the guilt she'd tried so hard to smother earlier.

He turned to face her, her guilt leaving small traces even as she pulled away. He didn't know how to comfort her. He was never good at actual comfort, just sensing that it was needed. Placing shaking hands over hers, he offered what little reprieve he could still give in his state. "I think . . . I don't know. I don't know what I'd do in your place." He looked down, then murmured. "I . . . don't know how I survived. Anything, really. But . . . I know I like you. I appreciate both you and her." His hands tightened on hers. "You saved me. Both of you. You didn't have to."

Dawn looked back up at Rowan, a tiny smile on her face as she threaded her fingers with his. "We wanted to."

He smiled then, ignoring the blood still on his lips. "Thank you." He didn't know what else to say. No one had ever done that for him before. He squeezed her hands again as he pondered. "Of all the things you could have done . . .," he trailed off. There was much they could have done to him. Instead, they saved him the only way they really could have.

She nodded, not needing to hear his unspoken words to know what he meant. Dawn stared down at their hands before letting go and taking his face in her hands, gently rubbing away the blood that coated his lips. "You have a nice smile . . .," she said, finger taking off some of the dried liquid. “But it is much nicer when it is not tinged with fear."

He crinkled his nose at her rubbing his lips of the blood, gritting his teeth and growling petulantly. All she needed to do was lick her thumb and use it like a parent does a dirty faced child. The thought was bittersweet, and left him staring sadly back at her.

Her fingers rubbed the last of the blood away and a happier smile graced her own lips. She dropped her hands down to gently tug at the ends of her sash, making it sit somewhat better around his neck. Dawn glanced back up at Rowan, a tiny blush on her cheeks as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "There . . . that should . . . you should be better now."

Tears pricked his eyes and he squeezed them shut, smiling at her tenderness. "Thanks," he muttered, quickly wiping at the streams threatening to leave his lids. "I hope," he breathed, "someday I can return the favor."

Dawn shook her head and let go of the sash to wipe at his tears as well. "Do not try to be in our debt. Just accept this as a gift of kindness like it was meant to be."

"I don't remember getting gifts. I wish I did. Then I'd know how to receive one," he admitted as he leaned into her touch.

"Be grateful and say thank you. That is all you need to do- and you have already." Dawn murmured, pressing her forehead against his. "It is all I-we, ask."

He rested his forehead comfortably against hers, closing his eyes and sighing. He whispered, "I still want to repay you. Even if I don't owe you."

She tilted her face up, half closed eyes gazing at his stressed face. With her hands still cradling his face Dawn closed the small gap between them, her lips brushing against his as she exhaled softly before kissing Rowan gently on the mouth. Her eyes slipped closed and a flush crept up her neck and cheeks, barely noticeable in the pale moon and starlight.

Rowan was so taken aback by the kiss he froze, breath hitching in anticipation for a bite or something more forceful. When it didn't come, his hands stopped shaking long enough for him to stop and feel the emotion behind the action. When he felt no malice whatsoever and instead felt a warmth growing within Dawn, he could almost feel himself melt. Warmth flooded his chest and heated his neck and face as he reacted accordingly, pressing his lips back to hers.

A tiny noise left the back of her throat when his lips began moving with hers and Dawn kissed him harder, needier then anyone her age should need to. She whimpered and pulled back, Rowan's mouth chasing after hers before he stopped as well. "I- I apologize I did not . . .," she stuttered, eyes averted but hands still clutching his face.

Rowan pulled back, going red and panic seizing him. He covered his mouth, mortified. Now he was the one being forceful. Oh God, no. "I'm so sorry!" he cried, eyes wide as he shrank in on himself.

"What?! No why would you-" she cut herself off leaning back towards him with eyes full of panic. "No I am sorry I just- I did not ask you and-" she squeezed her eyes shut and took her hands off his face only to cover her own with them. "No no no I apologize I am so so sorry I just- you are- it was-" she shook her head and peeked at him through her fingers, face heated more than before.

He shuddered, taken aback by the apology. He gulped, still shrinking smaller as he battled the tears that were freezing in his eyes. "It . . . I . . .," he didn't mind it. It had been nice. Different from anything he remembered trying before. Different from anything thrust on him, more like, "I . . . you don't need to be sorry." Please don't be sorry, he thought desperately.

She stared at him a moment longer then pulled her hands from her face. Bashfully she looked at ground and directed her next words to it. "Could we . . . try again please?" She whispered, fingers twisting in her lap.

He pulled his hands from his mouth slowly, breaths stuttering in his lungs as he nodded. He kept his eyes down for a moment, afraid to look up and see her reaction.

She saw him nod from the top of her peripheral vision and swallowed hard before leaning towards him again, this time her hands rested on his knees as she tilted her head towards his and hesitantly kissed Rowan again. It was a gentle, slow kiss that brushed smooth lips to chapped ones and made her breath halt slightly with each inhale he made.

Sparks shot down his arms as his hands raised slightly, unsure what to do with them. Resting them on her shoulders, he let himself kiss her back. Lips moving gently against hers, he sighed into the kiss and felt his heart hammering in his chest.

Dawns fingertips pressed into the flesh of his thighs slightly as she deepened the kiss, mouth moving somewhat quicker against his as she whimpered once again. It wasn't until she felt a wetness slide down her cheek that she realized she was crying. Her hands reached up to hold his face once more as Dawn continued to kiss him, tears on her cheeks and love on her lips.

He responded accordingly, mouth moving with hers easily. The only thing pulling his attention away from the kiss was her tears. He pulled back just enough, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead on hers. "What's wrong?"

She exhaled shakily and ran her thumbs across his cheeks, eyes still shut as she cried. "You are . . . you are my first kiss and . . . and I just. . . ." She laughed and looked at him through her lashes and tears, a smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. "And I never thought I would get one, much less that it would be so . . .," she paused and her voice was soft as she said, "nice."

He wished he could say the same. He really did. "This was . . . definitely the nicest kiss." He tried to shake the bitterness that rose up in his throat. But he couldn't.

Dawn tipped her face forward to kiss Rowan again briefly, her eyes fluttering closed. "Do not think on the bad ones." She said slightly breathless. Her hands dropped from his face to grab his own and tangle them together. "Enjoy this one and the stars. Enjoy the quiet and me. Do not let your ghosts back in."

He nodded, holding onto to her. Closing his eyes, he focused on her. On where they were now. "I won't."

She hummed and let their foreheads rest against one another as the two sat in silence. A faint pink and grey tinge was spreading across the otherwise black night sky and as it did Dawn tugged Rowan to his feet and steadily began leading him through the woods, her hand tightly grasping his. "Come on . . . we can enjoy the stars again tomorrow night."

He got up easily, following her and squeezing her hand back. "Where are we going?"

She smiled and turned her face to stare ahead. "Wherever we want."

He smiled. "Okay." He stared at the encroaching dawn, grin widening. He squeezed her hand tighter. "Let's find a deer trail."

A gasp of excitement left her lips and she tugged him ahead at a faster pace, face a glow with pale pink sunlight and joy. "Can we pet one?!"

"Sure! Come on, follow me!" He ran ahead, pulling her along as he took the lead.

A laugh bubbled out of her throat and the two were off, racing ahead to find an adventure.


End file.
